1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic sheet feeding device capable of feeding sheets of paper to a printer and collecting and stacking the sheets printed by the printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automatic sheet feeding devices have been employed to repeatedly feed paper that has been cut into sheets to a printer. Such a prior art automatic sheet feeding device is generally composed of four elements, namely, a hopper portion for storing the sheets of paper, a sheet feeding portion for feeding the sheets one by one to the printer, a sheet collecting portion for collecting the sheets after they have been printed on and discharged by the printer and a stacking portion for stacking the collected sheets. The sheet collecting portion is composed of a driving roller which rotates synchronously with a sheet feed mechanism of the printer, a pressing roller for rotatably bringing the paper into contact with the driving roller, and a sheet guide for guiding the printed sheet discharged from the printer between the driving roller and the pressing roller.
In the sheet collecting portion, the pressing roller is pressed against the driving roller by a pressing means having resilience such as a leaf spring. Hence, even if the position or the outer diameter of the driving roller is inappropriate or varied, the pressing roller is always urged against the driving roller. It is the same when the driving roller is abraded or worn.
Although the pressing roller moves accompanied by the movement of the driving roller, the guide for guiding the sheet between the driving roller and the pressing roller does not move. Hence, the sheet guide may not function properly. As a result, the sheet may not enter into and be guided by the driving roller and the pressing roller, but is instead liable to be bent just before entering between the driving roller and the pressing roller.